This year one of our pitchers, junior Matthew Large, will be blogging about the everyday life of a college baseball player in our program.
This blog started in 2008 and has continued since then with different players writing about everything that goes on as a college student-athlete over the course of a baseball season. Matt's first entry is below as the Warriors are entering their 6th week of strength and conditioning. There will be one more player (position player) to join the blog as soon as someone volunteers.
Matt's Entry:
The life of a collegiate baseball player is a tough road. The difficulty has already hit us before games have ever started.
Each day we are being pushed as far as we can. Baseball practices as a pitcher this year are very challenging; however, everyone is improving and getting better. We have had four weeks of conditioning and weight training to start the year. They have made some of us throw up, made some of us lose weight, but we all have gotten better. Everyone has went up weight in the weight room and every has gotten to be a faster runner. As pitchers we have ran the the 2 mile Exxon run, sprint jogs, sprint poles, and as every pitcher would say our favorite Mullinax Mountain.
Coach Howard has put us through a lot, but it has made us a lot better. We have two more weeks of conditioning before we start fall practice. I can't wait to see what we have as a staff this year, and we all cant wait to touch the field again. We will be better this year and I know everyone can't wait to see what we have. We are improving each and everyday.
I would like to leave you with a quote which describes our conditioning everyday.
"The soreness I have is expected. I have total movement." -Roger Clemens
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Thomas Floyd Checking In................
Thomas Floyd, freshman outfielder from nearby Travelers Rest, SC continues his blog for the 2010 season.
No matter what the case may be, anything in life that is challenging requires many different things.
After our first game against Truett McConnell this Saturday, Coach G gave a fiery, inspiring speech that pointed out the three main things that are a MUST for any team that wants to be successful. The three things he pointed out were having heart, pride, and intensity. He said that no matter what, a team should never lose these things.
I have been thinking about what he said and I would like to put these three things in my own words. HEART is having a gritty, never say die attitude that never quits no matter what the score may be. Teams with a lot of heart are pests to opponents because they never seem to go away; they just keep scratching back. PRIDE is going into any battle having the knowing that you and your team have the ability to conquer any task. Pride is being excited to face the ‘big dogs’ in the conference. It is also going out to the “CON” ready to beat up on any team that thinks they can come in and beat us here. Intensity is hustling everything out, pushing for that extra base, laying out for balls and anything that involves giving everything you’ve got for the good of the team. The guys that are always intense are very special. It is easy to get burned out during a long season, but those who are always ready to play and are always pumped to play wind up being the best leaders.
I know that I have been giving everything that I have got for the team, but after Coach’s speech, it made me want to reach down deep inside of me and pull out a little something more….I will find something more…. Hopefully others will follow.
No matter what the case may be, anything in life that is challenging requires many different things.
After our first game against Truett McConnell this Saturday, Coach G gave a fiery, inspiring speech that pointed out the three main things that are a MUST for any team that wants to be successful. The three things he pointed out were having heart, pride, and intensity. He said that no matter what, a team should never lose these things.
I have been thinking about what he said and I would like to put these three things in my own words. HEART is having a gritty, never say die attitude that never quits no matter what the score may be. Teams with a lot of heart are pests to opponents because they never seem to go away; they just keep scratching back. PRIDE is going into any battle having the knowing that you and your team have the ability to conquer any task. Pride is being excited to face the ‘big dogs’ in the conference. It is also going out to the “CON” ready to beat up on any team that thinks they can come in and beat us here. Intensity is hustling everything out, pushing for that extra base, laying out for balls and anything that involves giving everything you’ve got for the good of the team. The guys that are always intense are very special. It is easy to get burned out during a long season, but those who are always ready to play and are always pumped to play wind up being the best leaders.
I know that I have been giving everything that I have got for the team, but after Coach’s speech, it made me want to reach down deep inside of me and pull out a little something more….I will find something more…. Hopefully others will follow.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thomas Floyd Checking In.......
Thomas Floyd, freshman outfielder from nearby Travelers Rest, SC continues his blog for the 2010 season.
To really see what you are made of, you have got to take on the best.
This past weekend we took on a team picked to finish in the top two in our conference and was ranked fifth in the nation during the preseason. Lee University did have alot of talent, but its not like they were unbeatable.
Although the first and last game didn't turn out too great, and although we did lose the second game; I know that we would have won the second game if we had avoided a few mistakes.
If Lee is one of the best teams we will play this year, I have no doubt that SWU will be a force to be reckond with once we put it all together and avoid mistakes that lead to big innings by the opposing team. Once we figure out how to "stop the bleeding", as Coach G says, we will start cranking out the W's.
To really see what you are made of, you have got to take on the best.
This past weekend we took on a team picked to finish in the top two in our conference and was ranked fifth in the nation during the preseason. Lee University did have alot of talent, but its not like they were unbeatable.
Although the first and last game didn't turn out too great, and although we did lose the second game; I know that we would have won the second game if we had avoided a few mistakes.
If Lee is one of the best teams we will play this year, I have no doubt that SWU will be a force to be reckond with once we put it all together and avoid mistakes that lead to big innings by the opposing team. Once we figure out how to "stop the bleeding", as Coach G says, we will start cranking out the W's.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Thomas Floyd checking in........
Thomas Floyd is a freshman from nearby Travelers Rest, SC. Floyd is an outfielder and will be providing updates usually once a week.
When I first arrived on campus this past fall, one thing was on my mind….baseball. I couldn’t wait to meet my teammates and start working out with them. When we had our first day of BP in the fall, I was amazed at how many balls were hit out. (At my high school you were lucky to see maybe one ball go out every practice and I thought,’ you’re not in TR anymore Thomas’).
I immediately disregarded that we were a really young team and started thinking about how many games we would immediately win starting out the season. The first game was kind of a shocker to me. I never would have imagined the game turning out like it did. It woke me up and made me grow up a little and see that although we have talented upperclassmen, the majority of team is young guys. With youth comes stupid mistakes, many of which I have been guilty of; but it also brings a lot of room to improve.
During the weekend series against NGU I saw a lot of improvements as a team. I saw a flicker of brilliance in the innings where we would scrap out 6 runs or a freshman would step up and make a great play. The point I am trying to make is that although the way our season has started out has not looked too great, we have a whole lot of games to be played and a whole lot of talent just waiting to be unleashed.
With the combination of our senior leadership and improving underclassmen, I look forward to our next practices and games, where we WILL improve.
Thomas Floyd
When I first arrived on campus this past fall, one thing was on my mind….baseball. I couldn’t wait to meet my teammates and start working out with them. When we had our first day of BP in the fall, I was amazed at how many balls were hit out. (At my high school you were lucky to see maybe one ball go out every practice and I thought,’ you’re not in TR anymore Thomas’).
I immediately disregarded that we were a really young team and started thinking about how many games we would immediately win starting out the season. The first game was kind of a shocker to me. I never would have imagined the game turning out like it did. It woke me up and made me grow up a little and see that although we have talented upperclassmen, the majority of team is young guys. With youth comes stupid mistakes, many of which I have been guilty of; but it also brings a lot of room to improve.
During the weekend series against NGU I saw a lot of improvements as a team. I saw a flicker of brilliance in the innings where we would scrap out 6 runs or a freshman would step up and make a great play. The point I am trying to make is that although the way our season has started out has not looked too great, we have a whole lot of games to be played and a whole lot of talent just waiting to be unleashed.
With the combination of our senior leadership and improving underclassmen, I look forward to our next practices and games, where we WILL improve.
Thomas Floyd
Thursday, January 21, 2010
2010 Season Nearing........
In 2008, senior Davey Blackburn provided periodic updates throughout the season. Blackburn is now a student pastor at Newspring's Greenville campus and reaches out to the local student population in that area.
This spring select members of the 2010 roster will help provide you with an insider's look at the upcoming year.
Check back soon for more updates.........
This spring select members of the 2010 roster will help provide you with an insider's look at the upcoming year.
Check back soon for more updates.........
Monday, April 21, 2008
16 Innings!!!
That was quite possibly the longest sporting event I have ever been a part of, but I found out that the longest professional baseball game went more than twice as long!! 33 innings, between the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings in 1981. Here's the Wikipedia write-up I found on it.
After the game a few of us were talking about how that had to be some sort of a record for college baseball. I decided to check into it. Here's what I found:
In an article posted here about a 19 inning matchup between our neighbors down the road, the Clemson Tigers, and the Fordham Rams, it was noted that, "In the history of major college baseball, only seven games have lasted 20 innings or more, the longest being Colorado's 22-inning, 2-1 victory over Nebraska in 1974."
I also found the longest NAIA contest here.
So there you have it. While 16 innings was a heck of a lot longer than any of us would have liked to have played, I can't imagine going on for another 7 innings or more in order to beat the record.
THANK GOD WE WON!!
After the game a few of us were talking about how that had to be some sort of a record for college baseball. I decided to check into it. Here's what I found:
In an article posted here about a 19 inning matchup between our neighbors down the road, the Clemson Tigers, and the Fordham Rams, it was noted that, "In the history of major college baseball, only seven games have lasted 20 innings or more, the longest being Colorado's 22-inning, 2-1 victory over Nebraska in 1974."
I also found the longest NAIA contest here.
So there you have it. While 16 innings was a heck of a lot longer than any of us would have liked to have played, I can't imagine going on for another 7 innings or more in order to beat the record.
THANK GOD WE WON!!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Blog
So I realized today how terrible I am at this blogging thing
I walked into coach's office to check the daily board about practice plans for the afternoon, and I tried to avoid eye contact with coach.
Why?
Because I knew that he was going to make a comment about how long it has been since I blogged. I think it's been about 3 weeks.
After self-loathing for a while I began thinking . . .
. . .if this blog is intended to give you a little insight into what it's like to be a college baseball player, it's been successful! We are, if nothing else,
EXTREMELY BUSY!!
So welcome . . . welcome to my life and the lives of the other 31 guys with whom I hang out.
I walked into coach's office to check the daily board about practice plans for the afternoon, and I tried to avoid eye contact with coach.
Why?
Because I knew that he was going to make a comment about how long it has been since I blogged. I think it's been about 3 weeks.
After self-loathing for a while I began thinking . . .
. . .if this blog is intended to give you a little insight into what it's like to be a college baseball player, it's been successful! We are, if nothing else,
EXTREMELY BUSY!!
So welcome . . . welcome to my life and the lives of the other 31 guys with whom I hang out.
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